Bradwell teen sings with Children in Need choir in memory of dad

A schoolgirl who will sing live to the nation as part of the BBC Children in Need choir is dedicating her performance to her late father.

Emily, from Bradwell in Norfolk, has been receiving bereavement counselling from the charity Nelson’s Journey, which is supported by Children in Need.

Her father Andy died within days of a liver cancer diagnosis two years ago, when Emily was 11 years old.

“It’ll be difficult not to think of my dad when I sing it,” she said. “This is a great opportunity, and my dad will always be at the front of my mind.”

The choir will sing the Coldplay hit Yellow during the live television fundraiser, which begins on BBC1 at 19:00 GMT on Friday.

Emily’s mother, Rachel, told the BBC the family had little time to prepare for what was to come.

“We knew it was cancer, but we didn’t know how advanced,” she said.

“The diagnosis came quite late and although we had the option of a stent, the cancer was too progressed, so literally within days he passed away.

“Because of that we didn’t have time to have the conversations we would have wanted.

“Emily was a flight animal. When we told her and her older brother the diagnosis she literally ran.

“She didn’t want to know – it was just too painful.”

Emily said that she knew deep down that her father didn’t have long to live, and even though he put on a brave face and protected her from being upset, she started to prepare herself for life without him around.

She said they were very close. She called him Big Yeti, and she was his Mini Yeti.

“I tried to make myself more independent, getting used to him not being here. It shook me up and it changed me quite a bit,” she said.

“I would get really upset and my temper became really bad.

“Anything would set me off.”

Emily was helped by the charity Nelson’s Journey, which has been supporting children through bereavement for 30 years, helping them navigate and understand their feelings.

Emily had had sessions with child bereavement support worker, Amy Sale.

“One of the things we like to do is give the young person the chance to say goodbye if they need to do that,” Ms Sale said.

“Whenever someone dies there is never enough time to say all the things we wished we could have said or done.

“We try and find ways of preserving memories, like creating memory boxes. It’s one way of helping with that horrible feeling that young people sometimes have, that they are going to forget the person who has died and the special times they had.”

The BBC Children in Need choir is made up of young people like Emily who have been helped by projects and charities that receive its funding.

But Emily is hoping to take it a stage further.

“Emily is going to be a young volunteer at Nelson’s Journey and be part of our Youth Panel,” said Ms Sale.

“It’s full of young people like her who have their own bereavement experience and want to use what they have learned to help others.”

Emily says Nelson’s Journey and the support she has had from Ms Sale has helped her find different ways of coping, other than anger.

“It’s opened up a window of different ways of grieving – not just a lonely, sad, angry space, but also a kind of happy grieving in a positive way,” she said.